Private backers support streetcar offer, city budget gap estimated, governor's race still close

More than a dozen business and philanthropic entities
support the Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority’s (SORTA) plan to
develop a private-public partnership to pay for the streetcar’s
operating costs, according to Eric Avner, vice president of the
philanthropic Haile Foundation. If the people cited by Avner put money behind their support, they could get streetcar operating costs off
the city’s books and pave the clearest path forward for the $132.8
million streetcar project since the new mayor and City Council took
office earlier this month. Although Cranley called SORTA’s offer
“woefully insufficient” earlier in the day, Councilman Kevin Flynn, one
of two swing votes on council, said the idea could turn into a viable option if the business and philanthropic community
provided more assurances.

Other streetcar news:• City Council will hold public hearings on the streetcar
today at 1:30 p.m., with a vote to decide the project’s fate expected
tomorrow.• Speaking about the streetcar project, Vice Mayor David Mann told The Business Courier, “I’m awfully close to saying let’s go for it.” • The Federal Transit Administration might prefer to deal with SORTA over Mayor Cranley if the streetcar is completed.

Cincinnati’s projected operating budget gap for fiscal
year 2015 is $16 million, which means City Council will need to find new
revenue or cuts to balance the budget by July. Although a majority of
council members promise to structurally balance the budget in the next
few years, a minority say it will be more difficult than most expect without hiking
taxes or cutting police and firefighters.

The 2014 gubernatorial race between Republican Gov. John
Kasich and Democratic challenger Ed FitzGerald is within the margin of
error, according to a poll released Monday by Public Policy Polling (PPP). “Although
there’s been a fair amount of movement toward Republicans nationally
since (November), the state of this particular race has seen very little
movement and Democrats continue to have an excellent chance at a pick
up next year,” wrote Tom Jensen, director of PPP.

In what could be another chance of survival for the $132.8 million streetcar project, Mayor John Cranley on Thursday announced he's willing to continue the project if private contributors cover annual operating expenses that would hit an already-strained operating budget. Although Cranley gave private-sector leaders and streetcar supporters only one week to get a legally binding plan together, Eric Avner of the Haile Foundation said he is quite confident that private contributors could pull together some assurances for the 30 years in operating expenses in the short time span. The potential operating costs have long been a concern for opponents of the streetcar project, even though supporters insist that they would be more than made up by the economic development spurred by the streetcar.

A constitutional review panel seems to agree on a few key points regarding redistricting reform, which could fix a system that's long been abused by politicians on all sides of the aisle to give their political parties an advantage during elections. The panel agreed to create a seven-member board that would redraw Ohio's congressional and legislative districts after the next census is taken in 2020, but it's undecided how much power the minority party should hold on the board. In the last round of redistricting, Republican leaders redrew Ohio's political maps to deemphasize demographics that typically support Democrats and provide stronger spreads for demographics that typically support Republicans. CityBeat covered the issue and its potential impacts in greater detail here.

House Speaker John Boehner, a Republican, was the only federal legislator from the Cincinnati area to approve a budget deal that will avoid the threat of future government shutdowns. The deal replaces some of the controversial, blunt budget cuts known as "sequestration" with revenue from hiked fees and savings from cuts elsewhere. Reps. Steve Chabot and Brad Wenstrup, both Republicans from Cincinnati, voted against the deal because it makes cuts over a long period of time. But many economists agree long-term cuts are necessary to avoid the negative effects of budget cuts on today's already-weak economy. The Washington Post ran through the budget deal in further detail here.

It’s Election Day. Polls will remain open today until 7:30 p.m. Find your voting location here. Check out CityBeat’s election coverage and endorsements here. Regardless of who you plan to support, go vote. The results will decide who runs Cincinnati for the next four years.

A gathering in Covington, Ky. over the Brent Spence Bridge signaled the community is still divided about using tolls
to pay for the $2.5 billion bridge project, even as public officials admit tolls are most likely necessary to complete the project. Many local and state
officials believe the federal government should pay for the interstate
bridge, but they’re also pessimistic about the chances of receiving
federal funds. Covington Mayor Sherry Carran says she’s concerned about
safety at the functionally obsolete bridge, but she says tolls could
have a negative impact on Covington.

On Wednesday, Hamilton County commissioners are expected to vote on an annual budget that nearly matches the county administrator’s original proposal. The budget is
the first time in six years that county officials don’t have to carry
out major cuts or layoffs to close a gap.

A study from Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center
and three other community organizations found idling school bus and car
motors might pose a serious health risk to students. The most problematic pollutants are particularly
concentrated when cars and buses are standing, and the toxic particles
linger around schools and playgrounds for hours after the vehicles
leave, according to the study. For researchers, the findings are evidence buses and cars should
turn off their motors when dropping off children at school.

The Cincinnati Enquirer and other major newspapers lost thousands of readers in the past year,
even though some newspapers managed to buck the trend and gain in
certain categories, according to a circulation audit from the Alliance
for Audited Media. Between September 2012 and September 2013, The Enquirer’s circulation dropped by more than 10 percent, while The Toledo Blade and Dayton Daily News
increased their circulation. The drop coincides with
readers resorting to the Internet and other alternate sources in the
past few years. The losses have cost newspapers advertising revenue, and
many have responded with cutbacks in staff and overall news coverage.

More than half a million Ohioans qualify for tax subsidies under Obamacare,
according to a new study from the Kaiser Family Foundation. Anyone
between 100 percent and 400 percent of the federal poverty level, or an annual income of $23,550 to $94,200 for a family of four, is eligible.
But for Ohioans to take full advantage of the benefits, the federal
government will first need to fix HealthCare.gov, which has been mired in technical problems since its launch on Oct. 1.

Ohio Sen. Rob Portman was one of seven Republicans to support a federal ban on workplace discrimination against gays and lesbians
in the U.S. Senate yesterday. All Senate Democrats backed the bill. But
the bill faces grim prospects in the U.S. House of Representatives,
where it’s expected to fail. CityBeat covered state-level efforts to ban workplace and housing discrimination against LGBT individuals in further detail here.

Mitt Romney’s code name for Portman, a potential running mate for the 2012 Republican presidential ticket, was Filet-O-Fish.

Early voting for the 2013 City Council and mayoral elections is now underway. Find your voting location here. Normal voting hours will be 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., although some days will be extended.

Congress last night voted
to end a partial government shutdown that lasted for more than two
weeks and avoid defaulting on the nation’s debt. In the end, House
Republicans, including Speaker John Boehner and local Reps. Steve Chabot
and Brad Wenstrup, got less than nothing for their threats of default
and shutdown: Obamacare wasn’t repealed or delayed, taxes weren’t cut
and federal spending remained flat. Instead, Republicans were left with the worst polling results
Gallup measured for either political party since it began asking the question in 1992. Meanwhile, President
Barack Obama and congressional Democrats got the clean budget and debt
ceiling bills they were asking for all along. But the funding measures only last until Jan. 15 and the debt ceiling increase remains until Feb. 7,
leaving some groups on both sides of the aisle to ask whether the
dramatic showdown will happen all over again in a few months.

Four local homeless sued Hamilton County Sheriff Jim Neil
over his attempts to evict homeless people sleeping at the courthouse
and Hamilton County Justice Center with the threat of jail time.
Homeless advocates argue the policy punishes homeless people for being
homeless; they say the county should focus on creating jobs and housing
opportunities, not arresting people who are just trying to find a safe
spot to sleep. But the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office says it’s
addressing a public health issue; Major Charmaine McGuffey, head of the
Hamilton County Justice Department, says that every morning county
officials are forced to clean up urine and feces left by the homeless
the night before, and often the county doesn’t have the resources to
completely disinfect the areas.

In the ongoing legal battle for the Emery Theatre, the Requiem Project amended its lawsuit
against the University of Cincinnati and lessees and asked the courts
to remove UC from ownership of the building. Requiem argues UC has
failed to live up to the goals of Mary Emery’s charitable trust by
allowing the building to fall into disrepair and non-use over the years.
Courts originally approved the development of apartments in the
building as long as the profits went toward renovating the theater, but
after 14 years apartment operators say there are multiple mortgages on
the property and no profits. The trial is scheduled for February.

Now in print: Mayoral candidate John Cranley, who’s running for mayor against fellow Democrat and Vice Mayor Roxanne Qualls, rejected support
from the Coalition Opposed to Additional Spending and Taxes (COAST),
and the conservative organization’s history of anti-LGBT causes helps
explain why.

Qualls scored higher across the board
than Cranley in the scorecard released today by the African-American
Chamber of Commerce. Gene Beaupre, a political science professor at
Xavier University, previously told CityBeat that the black vote
will likely decide the mayoral election. Council candidates Charlie
Winburn, P.G. Sittenfeld, Vanessa White, Yvette Simpson, David Mann and
Pam Thomas also topped the scorecard.

Ohio House Republicans may sue
Gov. John Kasich for his decision to bypass the legislature and instead
get approval from a seven-member legislative panel for the federally
funded Medicaid expansion, which would use Obamacare dollars to extend
eligibility for the government-run health insurance program to more
low-income Ohioans for at least two years. The Health Policy Institute
of Ohio previously found the expansion would generate $1.8 billion for
the state and insure nearly half a million Ohioans over the next decade.
CityBeat covered Kasich’s decision in further detail here.

Meanwhile, the Ohio House and Senate are debating three different ways
to approach an overhaul of Medicaid and bring the program’s costs down.
State Rep. Barbara Sears’ bill pushes for a swathe of reforms and cost
controls, while State Rep. John Becker’s bill aims to significantly
weaken the program to the absolute minimums required by the federal
government. Becker’s proposal would likely leave hundreds of thousands
of low-income Ohioans without health insurance.

Speaking in Cincinnati yesterday, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said the federal government is working to correct the many errors plaguing Obamacare’s online marketplaces. The glitches and traffic overload have made HealthCare.gov,
which acts as Obamacare’s shopping portal for Ohio and 35 other states,
practically unusable for most Americans since the website launched on
Oct. 1.

Ohio’s prison agency reassigned
the warden and second-in-command at the Correctional Reception Center
weeks after Cleveland kidnapper Ariel Castro was found dead in his cell.

A 20-year-old woman is expected to recover after her car crashed into a Winton Hills building while she overdosed on heroin, according to Cincinnati police.

Civil liberties group says rules violate state constitution

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Ohio on
Wednesday announced it is suing the state of Ohio over anti-abortion
restrictions enacted as part of the 2014-2015 state budget.

“To put it simply, none of these amendments have any place
in the state budget bill,” said Susan Scheutzow, ACLU cooperating
attorney and partner at the law firm of Kohrman Jackson & Krantz, in
a statement. “This massive bill is not intended to deal with new
policy; the single subject of the budget should be the appropriation of
funds for existing government programs or obligations.”

The lawsuit claims the restrictions violate the Ohio
Constitution’s “single subject” rule, which requires each individual law keep to a single subject to avoid complexity and hidden language. In
the case of the budget, the ACLU argues that the law shouldn’t go beyond
appropriating state funds and tax collection.

The three anti-abortion budget amendments in question ban
public hospitals and abortion clinics from making transfer agreements
that are required to keep clinics open; order clinics to take
government-outlined steps, including showing a patient if a fetal
heartbeat is detected, before carrying out an abortion procedure; and
create a new “parenting and pregnancy” program that shifts state funds
into private organizations that are barred from mentioning abortion
services.

“The first two amendments have nothing at all to do with
budget appropriations,” said Jessie Hill, ACLU cooperating attorney and
professor at Case Western Reserve University School of Law, in a
statement. “The third is also unconstitutional because it creates and
funds an entirely new government program, something that requires
stand-alone legislation.”

The ACLU says the lawsuit is about promoting good
government that follows the rules, regardless of where any individual
stands on the issue of abortion.

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Preterm, a women’s
health clinic in Cleveland that provides contraception, family planning
and abortion services.

One anti-abortion restriction that’s not being sued over:
The state budget effectively defunded clinics like Planned Parenthood by
deeming their non-abortion services less competitive.

Republican legislators and Gov. John Kasich approved the
anti-abortion restrictions with the state budget in June. But Democratic
critics say the new rules harshly restrict access to legal abortions
protected by the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1973 Roe v. Wade decision.

CAF USA yesterday unveiled new renderings
for Cincinnati’s $133 million streetcar project. The city has hired CAF
to supply five cars, which will have four doors on each side and be
capable of moving in both directions on a track. The cars are also
completely low-floor, which should make boarding, disembarking and
moving around the streetcar easier. John Deatrick, the streetcar
project’s executive director, told CityBeat on Thursday that he’s
been in regular contact with CAF USA since he joined the project in
August, and he expects to really test out the cars once the
Over-the-Rhine loop is completed in June 2015.

Hamilton County commissioners unanimously agreed
the 2014 budget won’t include tax increases. It’s also the first budget in
six years that won’t require major cuts. Hamilton County Administrator
Christian Sigman’s budget proposal doesn’t explicitly suggest a tax
hike, but it does explain how a sales tax hike could be used to offset
other expenditures, such as a cut in property taxes. But commissioners
all said they’re opposed to a sales tax hike. Commissioners will likely
retool the budget and pass the final version in November.

Democratic attorney general candidate David Pepper called on Ohio
to restrict access of the state’s facial recognition system to a small
group of a couple dozen specially trained law enforcement officers,
which would take calls for the system 24/7. Under Republican Attorney
General Mike DeWine, Ohio in June secretly launched a facial recognition
program that allows law enforcement to use a photo to search state
databases and connect suspects with contact information; previously,
searching the databases required a name or address. In his defense,
DeWine claimed the system is vital for law enforcement and widely used across the country. But an
investigation from The Cincinnati Enquirer found Ohio’s system grants access to thousands more officials than other states’ systems.

The Hamilton County Board of Elections began a hearing yesterday on whether Randy Simes, owner of UrbanCincy.com,
can vote in Cincinnati after living in Chicago and moving to South
Korea. Simes registered to vote in the mayoral primary election through
Travis Estell’s address, where Simes says he stays when he’s in town.
Simes’ supporters say the conservative groups behind the hearing are
attacking him for political purposes because he supports the streetcar
project and Vice Mayor Roxanne Qualls for mayor, both of which the
groups oppose. The attorney for the conservative groups said that he
doesn’t want voting “treated as a game.” Some members of the board of
elections said they were disturbed by the political undertones of the
hearing and a request for emails between Simes and Estell.

Gov. John Kasich yesterday announced voluntary guidelines
urging doctors to use caution when prescribing high levels of opioid
painkillers for long-term use to patients. The restrictions are in
response to a rise in prescription drug abuse and overdoses across the country. Some
members of the medical community say they’re concerned the guidelines
will lead to temporary disruption in pain care, but others say the kinks
should work themselves out in the long term.

Letters from State Treasurer Josh Mandel show he lobbied for Suarez Corp.
to seek relief from litigation for the company. The two letters were
obtained on Jan. 2 by a federal grand jury that later indicted Benjamin
Suarez, owner of Suarez Corp., and Michael Giorgo, chief financial
officer of the company, on charges of illegally funneling about $200,000
to Mandel and a Republican congressman’s campaigns in 2011.

Reminder: Today is the last day to register to vote in
the 2013 mayoral and City Council elections. Since early voting is currently underway, it’s
possible to register and vote on the same day. Get a registration form here and find out when and where to vote here.

The federal government shutdown is closing in on its second week. The shutdown has forced some services in Cincinnati to seriously cut back, ranging from Occupational Safety and Health Administration safety inspections to small business loans. CityBeat covered the shutdown and the local leaders involved in further detail here.

City Council candidates met at a forum
on Oct. 5 to discuss their different visions for the city’s
future. The candidates agreed Cincinnati is moving forward, but they
generally agreed that the city needs to carry its current economic
growth from downtown and Over-the-Rhine to all 52 neighborhoods.
Participating candidates particularly emphasized public safety and
government transparency, while a majority also focused on education
partnerships and human services for the poor and homeless, which have been funded below council’s goals since 2004. The forum was hosted by The Greenwich in Walnut Hills and sponsored by CityBeat and the League of Women Voters of the Cincinnati Area. Check out CityBeat’s candidate-by-candidate breakdown of the forum here.

Hamilton County Administrator Christian Sigman plans to
propose a quarter-cent hike of the county sales tax to pay for lower
property taxes, the elimination of permit and inspection fees paid by
businesses, or the construction of a new coroner’s lab and addition of
nearly 300 jail beds, according to The Cincinnati Enquirer.
Hamilton County’s sales tax is currently 6.75 percent, which is lower
than 65 of Ohio’s 88 counties. Sigman says the plan would refocus the
county and allow it “to transition from a posture of where to cut to
where to invest.”

Councilman Chris Seelbach agreed to pay more than $1,200
to dismiss a lawsuit from an anti-tax group that would have cost the
city $30,000. Seelbach’s payment reimburses the city for a trip he took
to Washington, D.C., to receive the Harvey Milk Champion of Change award
for his accomplishments in protecting Cincinnati’s LGBT community. City
officials said the trip also helped Seelbach market Cincinnati and
learn what other cities are doing to attract and retain LGBT
individuals. The lawsuit was threatened by the hyper-conservative
Coalition Opposed to Additional Spending and Taxes (COAST), which claims
to protect taxpayers from government over-spending and high taxes but simultaneously forces the city to shell out hundreds of thousands of dollars to fight
off lawsuits.

Starting today, residents must use city-delivered trash carts if they want their garbage picked up. To save space in the carts, city officials are advising recycling. If city workers didn’t deliver a trash cart to your home, contact them here.

A bill in the Ohio legislature would ban licensed counselors
from attempting to change a youth’s sexual orientation. The practice,
known as “conversion therapy,” is widely perceived as unscientific and psychologically
damaging and demeaning. California and New Jersey banned conversion
therapies in the past year.

Ohio’s legislative leaders on Friday promised to make a Medicaid overhaul a focus of the ongoing fall session.
It’s so far unclear what exactly the overhaul will involve. Meanwhile, the Ohio legislature has refused to take up a federally funded Medicaid expansion, which would
expand eligibility for the federal-state health care program to include
anyone at or below 138 percent of the federal poverty level. The Health
Policy Institute of Ohio estimates the expansion would generate $1.8
billion for the state and insure nearly half a million Ohioans, and it’s
supported by Gov. John Kasich. But Republican legislators are skeptical
of expanding a government-run health care program and claim the federal
government wouldn’t be able to meet its obligations to the program,
even though the federal government has met its payments since Medicaid
was created in 1965.

The Ohio branch of the AFL-CIO, the largest federation of
unions in the country, today announced a slate of Democratic
endorsements for state offices, including Ed FitzGerald for governor,
David Pepper for attorney general, Nina Turner for secretary of state,
Connie Pillich for treasurer and John Patrick Carney for auditor.

A registry helps connect
University of Cincinnati Medical Center researchers with people with a
personal or family history of breast cancer. About 5,600 people are
currently on the list, which researchers can tap into to collect data or
solicit individuals for studies.

A grandfather chastised his daughter
in a letter for kicking out his gay grandson: “He was born this way and
didn't choose it more than he being left-handed. You, however, have
made a choice of being hurtful, narrow-minded and backward. So while we
are in the business of disowning children, I think I'll take this moment
to say goodbye to you.”

Have any questions for City Council candidates? Submit themhere and we may ask your questions at this Saturday’s candidate forum.

Early voting for the 2013 City Council and mayoral elections is now underway. Find your voting locationhere. Normal voting hours will be 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., although some days will be extended.

The federal government shut down
today for the first time in 17 years after House Republicans, including local Reps. Steve Chabot and Brad Wenstrup, refused to
pass a budget bill that didn’t repeal, delay or otherwise weaken
Obamacare, the controversial health care law that Senate Democrats and
President Barack Obama strongly support. Federal law requires government
agencies to largely shut down and furlough non-essential employees if
lawmakers fail to pass a budget that funds government services. The
showdown is the latest in Republican efforts to repeal or weaken the
president’s signature health care law. Republicans claim Obamacare is an
example of government overreach that burdens the economy, while
Democrats say the law will help millions of Americans receive health
insurance and clamp down on rising health care costs.

Mayor Mark Mallory and other community leaders yesterday jumpstarted a six-month effort to get as many people signed up for Obamacare’s online marketplaces, which opened for enrollment today at www.healthcare.gov.
At the marketplaces, an Ohio 27-year-old making $25,000 a year will be able to buy a “silver,”
or middle-of-the-pack, plan for as low as $145 a month after tax
credits, while a family of four making $50,000 a year will be able to pay $282 a
month for a similar plan, according to Congressional Budget Office numbers.
Participants with an annual income between 100 percent and 400 percent
of the federal poverty level, or individuals making between $11,490 and
$45,960, will be eligible for tax subsidies, with the highest incomes
getting the smallest subsidies and the lowest incomes getting the
largest. Various local groups, including the Public Library of
Cincinnati and Hamilton County and Freestore Foodbank, will participate
in the outreach campaigns, which will attempt to enroll as many Ohioans
as possible despite Republican legislators’ attempts to obstruct the efforts.

Vice Mayor Roxanne Qualls says she would pick Councilman Wendell Young as her vice mayor
if she’s elected mayor this November and Young wins re-election. Qualls
is running for mayor against fellow Democrat and ex-Councilman John
Cranley. Although Qualls and Cranley agree on a host of issues, they are
completely divided on the streetcar project and parking plan, both of
which Qualls supports and Cranley opposes. The issues took much of the spotlight during the first post-primary mayoral debate.

Ohio and Ky. officials say they expect to break ground on the Brent Spence Bridge project in 2015,
but no funding plan is yet in place. Officials agree tolling will be
part of funding the $2.5-billion project, but motor fuel taxes,
subsidies and a loan from the federal government could also play a role.
The project is nationally recognized as necessary because of the
current bridge’s deteriorating condition.

Councilman Chris Seelbach last night helped a gunshot victim
before the man was taken to the hospital. Seelbach
posted on Facebook that he was watching The Voice with his partner,
Craig Schultz, when they heard gun shots. They went to their
window and saw a man walking across Melindy Alley. When Seelbach asked
what happened, the man replied, “I was shot.” Seelbach then ran down and
held his hand on the wound for 10 to 15 minutes before emergency
services showed up. “We have a lot of work to do Cincinnati,” Seelbach
wrote on Facebook. Police told The Cincinnati Enquirer the victim seemed to be chosen at random.

Pure Romance yesterday announced it will remain in Ohio
and move to downtown Cincinnati despite a decision from Gov. John
Kasich’s administration not grant tax credits to the $100 million-plus
company, which hosts private adult parties and sells sex toys, lotions
and other “relationship enhancement” products. The reason for Pure Romance’s decision: The city,
which was pushing for Pure Romance despite the state’s refusal, upped its tax break offer
from $353,204 over six years to $698,884 over 10
years. Kasich previously justified his administration’s refusal with
claims that Pure Romance just didn’t fall into an industry that Ohio
normally supports, such as logistics and energy. But Democrats argue the
tax credits were only denied because of a prudish, conservative
perspective toward Pure Romance’s product lineup.

City Council yesterday unanimously rejected
restoring car allowances, paid work days and office budgets for the
city government’s top earners, including the mayor, city manager and
council members. Councilman Seelbach said he hopes the refusal
sends “a signal to the administration that this Council is not
interested in making the wealthy more wealthy or giving more executive
perks to people who already make hundred-plus thousands of dollars.” The
restorations were part of $6.7 million in budget restorations proposed
by City Manager Milton Dohoney. The city administration previously
argued the car allowances were necessary to maintain promises to hired city directors and keep the city competitive in terms of recruitment, but
council members called the restorations out of touch.

The Cincinnati area’s jobless rate dropped from 6.9 percent in August 2012 to 6.7 percent in August this year as the economy added 11,500 jobs, more than the 3,000 required to keep up with annual population growth.

The former chief financial officer for local bus service Metro is receiving a $50,000 settlement
from the agency after accusing her ex-employer of retaliating against her
for raising concerns about issues including unethical behavior and
theft. Metro says it’s not admitting to breaking the law and settled to
avoid litigation.

Ohio House Democrats say state Republicans denied access to an empty hearing room
for an announcement of legislation that would undo recently passed
anti-abortion restrictions. But a spokesperson for the House Republican
caucus said the speaker of the House did try to accommodate the
announcement and called accusations of malicious intent “absurd.” The
accusations come just one week after the state’s public broadcasting group pulled cameras from an internal meeting
about abortion, supposedly because the hearing violated the rules. The legislation announced by Democrats yesterday undoes
regulations and funding changes passed in the state budget
that restrict abortion and defund family planning clinics, but the
Democratic bill has little chance of passing the Republican-controlled
legislature.

Ohioans will be able to pick from an average of 46 plans
when new health insurance marketplaces launch on Oct. 1 under
Obamacare, and the competition will push prices down, according to a new
report. CityBeat covered Obamacare’s marketplaces and efforts to promote and obstruct them in further detail here.

Ohio lawmakers intend to pursue another ban on Internet cafes
that would be insusceptible to referendum, even as petitioners gather signatures to get the original ban on the November 2014
ballot. State officials argue the ban is necessary because Internet
cafes, which offer slot-machine-style games on computer terminals, are
hubs of illegal gambling activity. But Internet cafe owners say what
they offer isn’t gambling because customers always get something of
value — phone or Internet time — in exchange for their money.

Human services and parks funding to be restored; more than $70,000 stripped from motion

City Council’s Budget and Finance Committee on Tuesday
unanimously stripped budget restorations that would have reinstated car allowances, paid work days and office budgets for the city government’s top earners,
including the mayor, city manager and council members.

“It seems disingenuous that we would restore funding to
the top earners in our city for car allowances and cost-saving days and
also show, as we did last June, that we are willing to make sacrifices
along with our employees,” Councilman Chris Seelbach said at the
committee meeting. “When we ask people not to take a raise for five
years or to not take a car allowance, it’s important for us to also make
sacrifices.”

Seelbach added that he hopes City Council’s decision will
send “a signal to the administration that this Council is not interested
in making the wealthy more wealthy or giving more executive perks to
people who already make hundred-plus thousands of dollars.”

The city previously eliminated some paid work days and car allowances as part of broader cuts to balance the city’s operating budget without laying off cops or firefighters. But City Manager Milton Dohoney on Sept. 15 asked council members to use higher-than-projected revenues to undo $6.7 million in cuts, including $26,640 in car allowances for city directors, $18,000 in council members’ office budgets and $26,200 in paid work days for council members and the mayor.

City spokesperson Meg Olberding told CityBeat
on Friday that restoring the car allowances is a matter of basic
fairness and keeping both the city’s word and competitiveness. She said
the car allowances are typically part of compensation packages offered
in other cities that compete with Cincinnati for recruitment. The
allowances, she added, were also promised to city directors as part of
their pay packages when they were first hired for the job.

But some council members, particularly Seelbach, called the restorations out of touch.

“I’m more concerned with the garbage worker who’s making
barely enough to get by and would love to get a quarter-on-the-hour
raise, much less a $5,000 car allowance,” Seelbach told CityBeat
on Friday. “If someone wants to leave their position when they’re making
$100,000-plus because we’re not going to give them a $5,000 car
allowance, I’m convinced we can find someone just as capable, if not
more capable, that would be thrilled with a $100,000-plus salary with no
car allowance.”